Post by MGrage on Dec 28, 2004 13:51:11 GMT -5
Good morning y'all,
Hope all you guys had a very Merry Chistmas this past weekend. Santa was extraordinarily good to me this year. I got the usual shirts and slacks along with a brand, spanking new mailbox under the tree, all wrapped with care. Now that I've finished returning everything (except the mailbox, I needed that), I'm finally going to report on the Winter Meetings that Baseball Prospectus ran right before the real ones.
I got an e-mail just a couple days before and luckily I had the day off of work so I was able to attend. My number one choice was the Cubs, but I didn't get them. I did get my second selection, the NY Mets. They gave me a sheet with their 40 man roster and the salaries of everyone on it. They also gave everyone a salary cap for each individual team. Mine was a generous $110 million. My total salaries started out at $96 million, but with the retirement of Zeile ($1 million), losing Leiter ($10) & Hidalgo ($12.5) to free agency and having the final year of Mo Vaugn's contract expire ($17 million ACK!), I saved over $40 million dollars. We had almost 4 hours to go on a free agent and trading frenzy and I did.
Looking at my lineup, I knew I had some work to do. I needed to find a 1B, a #5 starter, overhaul my outfield and shore up my bullpen. Though I had the money to go hard after Delgado and Sexson, I decided to focus on my free agent spending first on pitching. While they were going over all the ground rules, I started talking with the Twins GM next to me. He was looking to shed salary so we quickly came up with a deal where we swapped center fielders. Mike Cameron for Torri Hunter and Matt LeCroy. I really wanted to upgrade my backup catcher to Piazza and LeCroy can rake. He can also backup at 1B. I considered Hunter and Cameron to be pretty equal so I pulled the trigger.
My next move was to trade for a right fielder. The Brewers GM was looking for starters so I offered him Victor Zambrano for Geoff Jenkins. He agreed and I filled my first hole in the lineup. I had talks with a few other owners about dealing for a 1B or a starter, but nothing jumped out at me so I started to look for the agents of the free agent players. I made a big splash by outbidding everyone for the services of Derek Lowe. I got him for $27 million over 3 years. Most of the other owners thought I overpayed for him, but with the way that our real life counterparts have lavished money on pitchers this offseason, I feel somewhat vindicated. Reyes, Wright and Matsui should all be plus defenders and Shea would reduce the number of HRs he gives up so I thought he'd be alot better than Zambrano in the #3 slot. I then picked up a middle reliever to bolster the pen and picked up Dan Miceli for $3 million over two years.
With my pitching staff better off, I set off to find a first baseman. I already had preliminary talks with the Reds GM about picking up Sean Casey so I went to look for him again. We then came up with the following blockbuster deal: Casey and Griffey JR for Cliff Floyd, Braden Looper and Craig Brazell. I figured I could trade for Ugueth Urbina so losing Looper wouldn't be too bad. Little did I know, but the Tiger's GM had already traded him at that point. DOH! I then went back to the Brewers' GM to talk to him about Danny Kolb but he was shipped to the Braves already. They gave up Juan Cruz to get him though.
After signing a potential closer in Terry Adams ($4/2 years), I started talking with the Mariner's GM about Steady Eddy Guardado. He was set on Jose Reyes and I really didn't want to lose him (mainly because he's on my CFCL team).
Also, I had nobody on my roster to take his place, so I went looking for a replacement. The Dodger's GM came up to me to see if I was interested in trading LeCroy. I told him I would in exchange for Alex Cora. I figured I could slide him into either the shortstop slot or at 2B. He agreed and we made the deal. I then found out that he really wanted LeCroy to add to a deal with another team so I could have squeezed someone else from him. I think LeCroy was traded twice after I traded for him actually. Anyways, I found the Seattle GM and we made the deal and I had my closer.
At this point, my total salaries were back to $97 million so I started bargain shopping. I filled my #5 starter slot by bidding $1 million for one year for Aaron Sele. I thought he could slide into a swingman role if I found someone better. I then went to fill my backup INF roles with Alex S Gonzalez (the Cubs SS) for $2.5/2 years and Tony Batista $2.0/1 year. Alex can play MI and Tony CI. I then re-signed fan favorite John Franco for a year for $1.5 million to much derision in the room. I had the oldest free-agent signing until someone signed Ricky Henderson for half a mill just before the end.
My final moves were to pickup a couple of backup outfielders for when Jenkins and Griffey get their semi-monthly injuries. I got Ben Grieve 2 years/$2.5 million and Brian Jordan 1 year/$2.0. I think Jordan would be the #4 OF and Grieve #5 and the first LH pinch hitter off the bench.
My final roster looked like this:
C - Mike Piazza
1B - Sean Casey
2B - Kaz Matsui
SS - Alex Cora
3B - David Wright
LF - Ken Griffey Jr
CF - Torri Hunter
RF - Geoff Jenkins
#4 OF - Brian Jordan
#5 OF - Ben Grieve
MI - Alex Gonzalez
CI - Tony Batista
C - Jason Phillips
#1 - Tom Glavine
#2 - Kris Benson
#3 - Derek Lowe
#4 - Steve Trachsel
#5 - Aaron Sele
closer - Eddie Guardado (L)
set-up - Mike DeJean
- Dan Miceli
- Terry Adams
- John Franco (L)
long - Ober Moreno
- Grant Roberts
This is what the batting order would be:
1) Hunter (R)
2) Casey (L)
3) Piazza (R)
4) Griffey (L)
5) Wright (R)
6) Jenkins (L)
7) Matsui (S)
8) Cora (R)
I think that's a real solid lineup with lots of flexibility. That should be a team that could content for the division in the weak NL East. Well, what do you guys think? Mahalo
Matt
Hope all you guys had a very Merry Chistmas this past weekend. Santa was extraordinarily good to me this year. I got the usual shirts and slacks along with a brand, spanking new mailbox under the tree, all wrapped with care. Now that I've finished returning everything (except the mailbox, I needed that), I'm finally going to report on the Winter Meetings that Baseball Prospectus ran right before the real ones.
I got an e-mail just a couple days before and luckily I had the day off of work so I was able to attend. My number one choice was the Cubs, but I didn't get them. I did get my second selection, the NY Mets. They gave me a sheet with their 40 man roster and the salaries of everyone on it. They also gave everyone a salary cap for each individual team. Mine was a generous $110 million. My total salaries started out at $96 million, but with the retirement of Zeile ($1 million), losing Leiter ($10) & Hidalgo ($12.5) to free agency and having the final year of Mo Vaugn's contract expire ($17 million ACK!), I saved over $40 million dollars. We had almost 4 hours to go on a free agent and trading frenzy and I did.
Looking at my lineup, I knew I had some work to do. I needed to find a 1B, a #5 starter, overhaul my outfield and shore up my bullpen. Though I had the money to go hard after Delgado and Sexson, I decided to focus on my free agent spending first on pitching. While they were going over all the ground rules, I started talking with the Twins GM next to me. He was looking to shed salary so we quickly came up with a deal where we swapped center fielders. Mike Cameron for Torri Hunter and Matt LeCroy. I really wanted to upgrade my backup catcher to Piazza and LeCroy can rake. He can also backup at 1B. I considered Hunter and Cameron to be pretty equal so I pulled the trigger.
My next move was to trade for a right fielder. The Brewers GM was looking for starters so I offered him Victor Zambrano for Geoff Jenkins. He agreed and I filled my first hole in the lineup. I had talks with a few other owners about dealing for a 1B or a starter, but nothing jumped out at me so I started to look for the agents of the free agent players. I made a big splash by outbidding everyone for the services of Derek Lowe. I got him for $27 million over 3 years. Most of the other owners thought I overpayed for him, but with the way that our real life counterparts have lavished money on pitchers this offseason, I feel somewhat vindicated. Reyes, Wright and Matsui should all be plus defenders and Shea would reduce the number of HRs he gives up so I thought he'd be alot better than Zambrano in the #3 slot. I then picked up a middle reliever to bolster the pen and picked up Dan Miceli for $3 million over two years.
With my pitching staff better off, I set off to find a first baseman. I already had preliminary talks with the Reds GM about picking up Sean Casey so I went to look for him again. We then came up with the following blockbuster deal: Casey and Griffey JR for Cliff Floyd, Braden Looper and Craig Brazell. I figured I could trade for Ugueth Urbina so losing Looper wouldn't be too bad. Little did I know, but the Tiger's GM had already traded him at that point. DOH! I then went back to the Brewers' GM to talk to him about Danny Kolb but he was shipped to the Braves already. They gave up Juan Cruz to get him though.
After signing a potential closer in Terry Adams ($4/2 years), I started talking with the Mariner's GM about Steady Eddy Guardado. He was set on Jose Reyes and I really didn't want to lose him (mainly because he's on my CFCL team).
Also, I had nobody on my roster to take his place, so I went looking for a replacement. The Dodger's GM came up to me to see if I was interested in trading LeCroy. I told him I would in exchange for Alex Cora. I figured I could slide him into either the shortstop slot or at 2B. He agreed and we made the deal. I then found out that he really wanted LeCroy to add to a deal with another team so I could have squeezed someone else from him. I think LeCroy was traded twice after I traded for him actually. Anyways, I found the Seattle GM and we made the deal and I had my closer.At this point, my total salaries were back to $97 million so I started bargain shopping. I filled my #5 starter slot by bidding $1 million for one year for Aaron Sele. I thought he could slide into a swingman role if I found someone better. I then went to fill my backup INF roles with Alex S Gonzalez (the Cubs SS) for $2.5/2 years and Tony Batista $2.0/1 year. Alex can play MI and Tony CI. I then re-signed fan favorite John Franco for a year for $1.5 million to much derision in the room.
I had the oldest free-agent signing until someone signed Ricky Henderson for half a mill just before the end.My final moves were to pickup a couple of backup outfielders for when Jenkins and Griffey get their semi-monthly injuries. I got Ben Grieve 2 years/$2.5 million and Brian Jordan 1 year/$2.0. I think Jordan would be the #4 OF and Grieve #5 and the first LH pinch hitter off the bench.
My final roster looked like this:
C - Mike Piazza
1B - Sean Casey
2B - Kaz Matsui
SS - Alex Cora
3B - David Wright
LF - Ken Griffey Jr
CF - Torri Hunter
RF - Geoff Jenkins
#4 OF - Brian Jordan
#5 OF - Ben Grieve
MI - Alex Gonzalez
CI - Tony Batista
C - Jason Phillips
#1 - Tom Glavine
#2 - Kris Benson
#3 - Derek Lowe
#4 - Steve Trachsel
#5 - Aaron Sele
closer - Eddie Guardado (L)
set-up - Mike DeJean
- Dan Miceli
- Terry Adams
- John Franco (L)
long - Ober Moreno
- Grant Roberts
This is what the batting order would be:
1) Hunter (R)
2) Casey (L)
3) Piazza (R)
4) Griffey (L)
5) Wright (R)
6) Jenkins (L)
7) Matsui (S)
8) Cora (R)
I think that's a real solid lineup with lots of flexibility. That should be a team that could content for the division in the weak NL East. Well, what do you guys think? Mahalo
Matt
